Different embodiments of swivelable arm rests are known from the state of the art. The subject-matter of the present application are those arm rests which can be swiveled up from a use position, into which said arm rests have been swiveled down, into a rest position, into which said arm rests have been swiveled up, without actuating an actuating member, and which can equally be swiveled back from the upper rest position to the use position. Moreover, such arm rests from the state of the art can be latched in several intermediate positions for adapting the ideal support height of the arm rest. For this purpose, the known arm rests include a latching mechanism, which allows for swiveling the arm rests up without hindrance, but which prevents swiveling down of the arm rests out of a latched position. In contrast to that, swiveling down back into the lower use position is realized in that the arm rests are firstly swiveled up until they reach the rest position, whereby the latching function is deactivated with the help of an unlocking mechanism, such that swiveling the arm rests down into the use position becomes possible.
As a rule, said embodiment having a latching mechanism and an unlocking mechanism constitutes a suitable solution for realizing a swivelable arm rest. As a general rule, it can be said that it does not happen that the arm support is swiveled up inadvertently. However, in particular in crash scenarios, cases are conceivable in which, for example due to the vehicle somersaulting subsequently, the arm support is inadvertently shifted from the use position in the direction of the rest position relative to the console part. Even though there is, as a general rule, no risk to such a scenario, circumstances are conceivable in rare cases where heavy items, for example, fall out of a storage compartment that is situated beneath the arm support and down into the passenger compartment while the vehicle is somersaulting, injuring the persons sitting in the passenger compartment. Therefore, it is desirable that the arm support cannot be shifted out of the use position in the case of a crash.
For this purpose, it is known in the state of the art to employ, instead of an arm support that can be swiveled as usual, an embodiment that is comparable to a swivelable lid, which is retained in the closed position with the help of a locking means. Correspondingly, before the arm support in the type of a locked lid can be swiveled up, it is firstly required to actuate an actuating mechanism for unlocking the locking means. This, on the one hand, involves the disadvantage that swiveling up is not directly possible and, on the other hand, that a mechanism for actuating and locking is required. The fact that actuation is, as a general rule, needed at the face end of the arm rest is in particular disadvantageous, with this being especially the region where the least installation space is available.